Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Saturday in support of various demands including taking up drought relief works on a war footing manner in the district.
Led by KPRS district unit president P.R. Suryanarayan and general secretary T.M. Venkatesh, the functionaries raised slogans condemning lethargic attitude of authorities in releasing funds to farmers.
“A whopping Rs. 26.55 crore is pending in lieu of incentive to sericulture farmers and for drip irrigation,” Mr. Suryanarayan said.
Farmers are also awaiting relief for the crop loss caused due to unseasonal rain and hailstorm, he said.
The protesters also demanded hike in import duty on silk.
The slash in the duty has put the indigenous sericulture farmers in the lurch as it resulted in import of raw silk in large quantity from
other countries, they said. KPRS taluk president Kurki Devaraj, secretary N.N. Sriram, district joint secretary Gangamma participated in the protest among others.
